me down after they met the woman behind the business concept. Even today,
gender discrimination continues with unequal requirements by banks for proof
of creditworthiness.â&#x20AC;? This situation was previously exacerbated by a high minimum paid up capital requirement, which encouragingly has since been abolished. Coming from a wealthy Korean family, Sung-Joo was ultimately able to turn
to her businessman father for a start-up loan, a luxury not available to most
potential entrepreneurs.
Sung-Joo also encountered problems with the Republic of Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s complex business registration regime; a total of eight different procedures are required; it was
even more cumbersome when Sung-Joo began in business in the 1990s. Given her
frustration with the cumbersome procedures, Sung-Joo decided to pay an incorporation expert to ensure her new company was in regulatory compliance. Despite this
expert assistance, it took several months to register her company in 1990. For those
who cannot afford to hire an expert to help them manage the process, registration
procedures can be even more daunting. These obstacles make starting a business
especially difficult for women, who are less likely to have the needed money, time,
or contacts to navigate the process.
Sources: World Bank 2009, 2010.

Such de facto discrimination is found in several developing countries
in the region. In China, increasing unemployment has created tensions in
the labor market, apparently exacerbating the tendency toward gender
discrimination in employment. Reportedly, some job postings openly
express a preference for male employees in many areas. Recent female
graduates with good qualifications are often less likely to be hired than
males with lower credentials (Li and others 2002; ADB 2006a). More systematic research would shed light on the degree and severity of such discrimination in the workplace as well as its dimensions: glass ceilings in
management, unequal hiring practices, de facto restrictions on job types,
and so forth.

Internal Assets: Human Capital and Time
The success of enterprises is partly a function of the skills and time of
those who run them. If women lack the right business skills, they are